Light Squared.

Republicans can't get enough, I guess.

Yet another project that got started under the Bush Administration and had received preliminary clearances under Republicans, is now getting attention because the Obama Administration asked General Shelton (Air Force Space Command) to soften his prepared testimony to Congress.  Specifically, General Shelton (and the military in general) believes that Light Squared's LTE implementation would interfere with the military's GPS.

Here's what really bugs me: this is a technical issue that can be overcome, not some intransigent incompatibility. And if Congress were truly concerned about internet access and competition in the US, they'd be working with Light Squared, not against it.  Most of the lesser wireless networks as well as Sprint, have signed up to lease bandwidth from Light Squared to better compete with Verizon and AT&T.  LTE also holds the promise of making access easier for rural areas, in order to create a more-seamless wireless network.

So what's this all about?  Just to win political points against the Obama Administration, really?  This is exactly what Paul Krugman predicted Republicans would do, and though it started out mildly, it's starting to pick up.

You know, it's not like the Republicans bothered to investigate the fake claims of WMDs in Iraq, or the missing billions of dollars in either Afghanistan or Iraq, that may have ended up in the hands of Al Qaeda and the Taliban, or the no-bid contracts that Dick Cheney's old firm got.  No, they're upset that Obama asked government to work faster and to have a general change his hard stance against a technology that would benefit millions of Americans with lower prices and greater access to the internet.

That's the Republican Party.